WPP revenue up 14.1%, European business slows

SimonKennedy

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. advertising company WPP Group
WPP, -2.26%
said Friday that its first quarter revenue rose 14.1% to 1.56 billion pounds ($3.08 billion). Excluding the impact of acquisitions and favorable currency moves, revenue for the period was up almost 5%, the group said. WPP said its North American business "continues to grow faster than commentators might expect" with comparable revenue up over 5%. Western Europe, however, experienced an unexpected slowdown in March. In the quarter both operating margins and profitability were ahead of the group's budget and the previous year and it said it remains on course to meet its margin objective of 15.5% for 2008.

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